In order to appropriately condition a field after harvesting, before planting, or at other times, various agricultural implements may be utilized. For tillage operations, for example, a tillage implement may be towed across a field behind a work vehicle (e.g., behind a tractor). The tillage implement may include a rigid main frame, which may be configured to support various tools and attachments for conditioning the soil of the field. In certain embodiments, for example, a tillage implement may support disk gangs, rippers, finishing baskets, and so on.
Tools for tillage (and other operations) may sometimes be configured for particular tasks. For example, certain disk gangs may be configured for opening soil furrows or trenches or for cutting and chopping plant material and other residue. In some implements, various gangs of mulching disks may be disposed on rigid wings attached near the front or middle of a tillage implement. Other disk gangs may be configured to close furrows or trenches or otherwise finish the soil. For example, various gangs of finishing disks (or other finishing disk assemblies) may be disposed near the back of a tillage implement. Other closing or finishing devices may also be utilized. For example, a rolling basket may be disposed near the back of a tillage implement in order to smooth mounds left by other tools (e.g., finishing disks), break up remaining clods of soil, and so on.
In order to effect appropriate conditioning of a given field (or other operations), it may be useful to provide appropriate down pressure to various tools supported by an implement (or to support structures for those tools), such that the tools appropriately engage the ground. In certain embodiments, the weight of the relevant implement (or attachment) may be sufficiently large to provide appropriate down pressure to the tools. For example, in certain conditions, the weight of the main frame of a tillage implement may be sufficient to ensure that tools mounted to the frame maintain appropriate contact with the soil. Where tools are mounted to a pivoting wing, however, or other moveable attachment, the weight of the wing or other attachment may not always be sufficient to ensure appropriate engagement of the tools. For example, where a rigid wing is configured to fold upward for transport, impacts by the ground on tools attached to the wing may tend to bounce the wing upward such that the tools do not effectively engage the soil. Similarly, trailing attachments, which may be pivotally attached to a main frame of a tillage implement in order to support various finishing (or other) tools, may be insufficiently heavy to maintain appropriate ground engagement of the relevant tools. For these and other reasons, it may be useful to provide a system for improved down pressure control and soil conditioning.